The Note
by Lizzie Weasley
Summary: A long forgotten note from Ron find it’s way back into Hermione's hands leading to new feelings and unexpected thoughts. And who would have think it was all because of a stupid little note? ONESHOT R&H Better than it sounds. Please R


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(A/N) Yes, I admit it. Once again I was unwillingly sucked into the world of One shots. I didn't want to do it, I mean I'm totally serious about getting my other fic along the way, but… it was torturing me. No serious it was like eating away at me because I kept putting it off and putting it off so I thought I'd go insane if I didn't post it NOW! So I did, as you may very well see. Damn it. Well now that it's here I suppose you can read and review. I mean there's not much else to do besides that anyway. Bye-bye for now.

Love from Lizzie

(Disclaimer) Well what do you expect? I'm no JK deary.

**The Note**

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Hermione lay staring up at the ceiling. It was crumbling in a lot of places and the wood was definitely cracked as well. Actually it would most probably some day collapse and the whole house would fall to pieces with it. Hopefully it would not be on top of her. That's what was going through her mind right now- hope that the ceiling would not collapse on her. How intelligent a thought was that?

The old box spring mattress creaked loudly as she sat up and sighed looking around. Well what else was there to do really? It was not as if that dank dark and musty house offered much to do besides clean. That was why she lay here staring at the deteriorating roof of her and Ginny's grim fill room.

Mrs. Weasley had taken Ginny and Ron to Diagon Alley with her, and Harry had unwillingly followed after Mrs. Weasley made a big fuss. Hermione however had decided to stay back a Grimmauld Place, in her opinion a grand mistake. For had not two minutes passed that she regretted agreeing that she need not go because she had already bought her school supplies a week earlier. Now, she wished she had just gone along just for the hell of it. It would mean she didn't have to waste all this time staring at the ceiling just waiting for it to collapse.

But then again another big reason she didn't want to go is because lately is because nowadays she and Ron were refusing to make any kind of eye contact. Just a few days prior she and Ron had had yet another row about his favourite quarrelling topic, the famous Victor Krum and her relationship with him. He brought it up ever once in a while and every time he did so another raging war would break loose. Well what did he expect; the next time he sent her a post owl she'd go packing her bags for Bulgaria set to wed him the following weekend?

_Sometimes, Ron…_

Hermione hit the floor and crawled over to her trunk. She had finally decided amongst herself that if she couldn't find anything else to do why not read _Hogwarts, A History_. After all, there was nothing else to do, it was always a supremely interesting read, and of course she had left her other books at home so there was no other choice. Another bad suggestion: having send all your books to Hogwarts ahead of time.

Inside the trunk were all the robes she ever owned along with her Muggle weekend clothes of course. She had to dig well into the pile laden with extra socks, sweaters, scarves, and other scattered belongings until she felt the rough spine of her favourite book in the world, _Hogwarts, A History_.

Hermione pulled her hand out of the now scrambled clutter of clothes and belongings and retracted her black hard cover copy. It had served her well countless times and she practically owed it her life. But it had been a while since she had last opened it's cover, perhaps not since first year at Hogwarts. After all it was then she memorised it word for word, front to back.

Sinking back into her pillow, Hermione propped the book on her arched knees and opened the cover. She had only read the fist couple of lines when she noticed a corner of a paper sticking out oddly from one of the middle pages. Supposing it to be a bookmark or something of the sort she just grabbed it out and made to lay it aside, but not before she could recognise the handwriting on it's front.

In a quick flash she made to find the paper again but found it to have fallen off the bed onto the floor. Gently laying her book aside for a moment she crouched down onto the hardwood floor and pulled the folded up paper from under her bed.

It was exactly as she could remember it from so long ago. Her name was scribbled in a deep blue ink in the centre of it in a highly untidy scrawl. The 'I' and the last 'e' were hardly understandable that it practically spelled "Hermon". All the while none of this made a difference to her except how wonderful it actually was.

Hermione hurriedly opened it in a quickened haste after she gazed at her name long enough to fit her need. Inside was the same handwriting scrawled across the slightly browning parchment. It was written still in the same deep blue in and titled, "To Hermione".

To Hermione,

I wanted to tell you that I am very sorry for what I said to you yesterday. I didn't mean to make you sad and it made me sad too when I saw you cry. I also felt really bad because got locked in with the troll. I was scared when I saw you were in the room with it. I thought you might die and I don't want you to die. Thanks for teaching me the charm for Professor Flitwick's class. I couldn't have done it without you. I'm still really sorry Hermione and I hope you will forgive me and maybe we could be friends. I'd like to be your friend even if you are a girl. I'm really, really sorry.

Love your friend, Ron

Hermione was laughing but tears were also trickling down her cheeks. She knew it was stupid to be crying over a little childish letter like this one, but it brought so many good memories flooding back into her soul in one huge wave. She didn't know what to think anymore. It had been so long since she'd seen this letter that she had almost forgotten it, but now she held it close to her heart and swore never to lose it again.

It wasn't the only time Ron had ever apologised to her but this one was special. He had wrote it to her back in her first year. She had just been thinking not three second before that maybe Harry and Ron didn't like her when he dropped this on her table in the common room.

She could see it like it was yesterday. His red hair was hanging in his small freckled face and his blue eyes were hidden by an overly large clump. He had tossed it down on the table and he stood there gazing about awkwardly for a few second afterward.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry," he mumbled under his breath and finally looked up at her with those gorgeous deep blue eyes that could have easily matched the ink on the letter. She had smiled awkwardly in turn and instantly felt a swarm of butterflies enter her stomach.

"Thank you," she replied dully as he blushed a deep shade of scarlet to match his hair.

He muttered something about going to breakfast and stalked off to leave her time to picture his eyes again and finally break open the letter.

It had been there too that she had cried like a baby before stalking after Ron down to the Great Hall. Of course then too she hadn't known what exactly it meant to her, but she swore to treasure it forever. Never again would anything Ron say be at any level that she'd never forgive him.

…Never.

The door cracked open at that exact moment and as if transported there by her thoughts, Ron entered. Hermione stood up quickly and in a rapid snatch she managed to slide his letter to her out of view. Then noticing the damp spots still clinging to her cheeks she brushed the tears from her eyes. Ron had not noticed any of these strange movements; he was still busy staring at his feet.

"We're back," he said thickly chancing a glance up at her as she stood there awkwardly on the other side of the bed.

"Oh," she replied in the same dull manner finding it difficult to breath at the moment; to many emotions were still clutching her heart.

"So, I came to ask if you'd like something to eat. Lunch's ready."

"Yes, thank you. I'll be down in a minute."

Hermione took a glance up at him. It was the same as that day in her first year. His red hair was fallen in his freckled face blocking her view of his beautiful eyes. But his face wasn't that of the little boy she knew so well; it was that of a man she didn't quite know at all.

Finding the awkwardness to much to bare undoubtedly Ron muttered something about going down to eat when she stopped him.

"Ron."

He turned around slowly finally showing his eyes, so deep she could sink into. Those same butterflies she knew so well nowadays came back into her stomach.

"I'm sorry, Ron." Hermione looked down at her feet finding it hard to stare any longer into those piercing blue eyes.

"You mean it," Ron mumbled from the doorway.

Hermione moved around the bed and chanced another glanced at him again.

"Yeah, I do."

Ron smiled down at her with the same grin all the Weasley's possessed; that smile she knew and loved so very much. But then it faded and instead it turned upside down into a frown.

"No, I should be the one whose sorry, Hermione. I shouldn't have told you that stuff. You can write to Krum if you want to and I can't stop you no matter how much I try."

"No, Ron. I shouldn't have been writing to him around you anyway. I know you don't like me writing to him. And you're my friend and I should have respected your wishes like you do mine."

"No, really. I don't mind so much anymore. You can write to him if you want."

"No, if it means we're going to fight every time I do, there's no reason to. And if it hurts you I'd rather just stop. I don't want to lose you as a friend."

Ron looked confused at Hermione's last couple of words.

"Who said anything about not being friends anymore?" he asked a curiously bewildered expression upon his freckled face.

Hermione felt beside herself with embarrassment. "Well, I just thought… we fight all the time and all…and we never really agree on anything…we might not want to…"

"Hermione listened to me." Ron moved over to her and took her hands in his own. She looked up into a man's face and felt now more than ever that she really must not know him as well as she used to.

"No matter what happens," he continued. "I will never ever want to lose you as a friend. Never in my heart has that ever even occurred to me. I promise from the bottom of my heart that whatever happens between us, I'll never stop caring for you."

A tear trickled down Hermione's cheek and she found herself unable to look away from Ron's eyes once again no matter how much she wanted to.

"Thank you, Ron. You don't know how much that means to me."

Ron smiled down at her again and Hermione's heart went aflutter.

"You're welcome."

With those last two words he turned away and without looking back left the room shutting the door slowly behind himself.

Hermione sat back down on her bed and picked up her copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ withholding the little note Ron had given her six years before now. This same feeling was going through her then as it was so painfully now. She didn't like to admit it but now it seemed to finally have been proven true. She loved Ron. She _really_ loved Ron. There was no denying it.

She lay back on the bed staring up at the ceiling once more as she clutched her beloved book close to her heart. But the cracks splitting the ceiling dangerously made no importance Unlike before when she stared up at the crumbling frailty of the roof above her the time of it's shattering did not matter. She had too much to think about at the moment to worry about the ceilings state. But maybe it's falling on her _would _make matters easier.

And to think it all started with that stupid little note.


End file.
